Ngilu’s Fate Hangs In The Balance As Kitui County Assembly Sets Date For Impeachment

The Kitui County Assembly has set Wednesday, July 15, as the date for the hearing of an impeachment motion against Governor Charity Ngilu.

The besieged county boss will be required to appear personally before the county assembly at 10.00am to respond to the allegations in the impeachment motion.

Alternatively, the assembly has given Ngilu an option of choosing at least two lawyers to represent her.

“This is to notify you that the Motion dated 16th June, 2020 calling for the removal of the governor, County Government of Kitui by impeachment shall be considered by the County Assembly of Kitui between 15th July 2020 and 17th July 2020 in the line with Standing Order 60 of the Kitui County Assembly Standing orders,” a notice from the assembly speaker George Ndotto reads.

This comes three days after the High Court gave the ward representatives a go-ahead to table the impeachment motion against the governor.

In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Justice Weldon Korir dismissed Ngilu’s application to stop the impeachment process on grounds that it lacked merit.

Read: Besieged Governor Ngilu Dealt A Blow As Court Allows MCAs To Debate Impeachment Motion

The impeachment motion sponsored by Athi Ward Representative Peter Kilonzo alias Tangawizi had been scheduled for hearing late last month before the court issued the governor with orders temporarily stopping the impeachment process.

In the impeachment motion signed by 40 out of 56 MCAs, Kilonzo accuses the county boss of failure to account for public funds.

The MCA argues that the governor failed to honour summons by the senate committee on County Public Investment and Accounts to shed light on audit queries regarding the management and expenditure of county funds amounting to KSh20 billion for 2017 /2018 and 2018/ 2019 financial years.

Read Also: Ngilu Slams Kitui MCAs For Dramatically Ejecting Her Lawyers From Assembly

This writer understands that the audit queries had been raised by the Auditor General in the auditor general’s report for the years ended 30th June, 2018 and 30th June, 2019 respectively.

The motion reads that when the governor finally appeared before the committee, she failed to give a satisfactory explanation to the audit queries.

According to the MCA, Ngilu’s failure to account for the said expenditure as required further violates Article 201 (a) of the Constitution and her said actions have utterly eroded the public confidence of the people of Kitui County in the integrity of the holder of the office.

Other accusations include irregular and unlawful hiring of county secretary and failing to comply with the two-third gender rule in appointments, violating people’s right to health and conflict of interest in the purchase of a stationary stone crusher plant.

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